Backpacking to freedom at 60

At 60 years old she lost her spouse to cancer and found herself living Groundhog Day as a doting grandmother and asking herself – is this it?

Her book Backpacking to Freedom – Solo at Sixty is her account of what happened next.

Armed with a backpack and some courage, she set off to India and did not look back for nearly 10 years.

The book is an honest, funny and inspiring account of Maggie’s amazing adventures, including working as a masseuse in Cambodia, enduring six days on a train from Beijing to Moscow, running a summer school in China, sharing a sleeper train with Russian businessmen in their undies and fighting off intruders in Thailand.

The self-published 73-year-old author said she was a firm believer that age was no barrier.

Maggie decided to start backpacking at 60 because her four children were grown up and had their own lives and, despite the joy of grandchildren, she wanted more in her life than being a full-time grandmother.

“I always wanted to go to India, so I followed my dream and that’s where I started,” she said.

Maggie said after her trip to India she embarked on the old hippy trail through Indonesia, Sumatra, Malaysia and Thailand, travelling overland on all forms of budget transport.

She travelled for days across countries on trains, buses, boats, planes, horses and camels.

“I had many highlights. There was the Taj Mahal, Great Wall of China, flying past Everest en route to Tibet, Paris, staying on a house boat on the Dalh Lake, Kashmir. Plus all the wonderful people I met on my journeys. The list is endless,” she said.

Maggie said she hoped by sharing her story she would inspire people to get out in the world and live their lives.

“People cannot believe I did this trip alone,” she said.

“But with good health and a positive attitude you can move your mountains. I tell everyone to try new things and listen to the voice inside you.”

You can hear Maggie speak about her adventures and sign copies of her book at Pokokai, 65 Currie St, Nambour, this Friday, May 13, from 5.30pm